After closer examination, he sent the girls and I to breakfast and he made a trip to Car Quest for quick connects for our wiring. You see, the new cord needed to be hard wired into the camper, which was not scheduled in our time block, so he made the executive decision to repair our damaged wire with a set of quick connects and some electrical tape.
After almost 30 minutes in the restaurant, the girls and I waltz out to find a sweaty and frustrated dear old daddy, sitting between the camper and the truck. While Bekah manned the leash with Maddie and swore she was dying of heat exhaustion, Jeremy and I made the surgical-type repair to the camper wiring. Savannah Kay was obliviously kicking at random things with rosy cheeks. Ah, ignorance is such bliss! Just so you know, Jeremy and I make a great team!
Then we called just about every auto repair place listed in LOLA to find a shop to charge the freon in Jeremy's truck, Old Blue. We were told to stop by the local Pep Boys. The couldn't fit us in until around noon, so we made a strong effort to 'do it yourself' with a freon filler, purchased for about $30. Yes, there was a sensation of cool-ness coming from the vents, but in no way was the AC near arctic chill levels. I suppose anything was better than what he had been sitting in that morning. At around 11:00 a.m. we finally headed out of Bakersfield.
The rest of the day proved rather uneventful. Well, except I did notice my check engine light was now illuminated. I should interject at this point that we had a little concern about the transmission in the van. In the last few weeks our van had slipped out of gear a handful of times. This occurrence was always on our street, and always after just starting the van and taking off. We knew that 125,000 miles was high, and just passed the transmission trouble off as much adieu about nothing. Oh, and my regular beams were still not working, but hey...we could check that out later. At least I had light, right?! Also, Jeremy's left arm was looking rather reddish with his new stylish burn from the day before. He had rigged his sunshade to protect his arm from further damage. Somehow, I managed to capture this safety violation on camera.
We did have one other rather exciting event at one of our gas and potty stops. The kids and I had decided at Dairy Queen Blizzard was a must. We overheard someone say, "It's only 104 today." Can you believe this?! Only 104!!! Well, after an ice cream drive-thru, Savannah and I did our potty stop first, but were told to enter the bathroom from the outside. While in the one room potty, I noticed there were two doors, one on each side of the room. Apparently one of these doors was the clerk entrance. Bekah made her potty stop after us, but with a rather grumpy escort from Momma. We had already had one of those discussions where she didn't need to go until right as we were about to drive off. With melting ice cream, and daylight burning away, we treked to the potty. After washing my hands I walked out the door and headed to the car. She was slowly drying her hands behind me. After about three minutes, there was still no Bekah. I had now reached the conclusion that she was probably sulking in the bathroom, so I stomped back to haul her to the car. When I reached the bathroom, Jeremy and I discovered she was locked in, and bawling! Apparently my exit had triggered the faulty lock, and she was stuck inside. Thank heavens for the second entrance. About 2 seconds later, with child in hand, and a tissue for the road, we were on our way once more.
We pulled into an RV resort that was located just west of Flagstaff, and within eye sight of I-40. There was a military rate, and $23 later we were now running the heater and snug as a bug in a rug. The mountain air was a bit of a change from the 100 degree pool weather in Bakersfield. This was not our scheduled stopping point, but it was nearing 10:00 p.m. and we had been driving for about 9 hours. Our reservations were for Munds RV Park, but it was off the beaten path, and Jeremy swore the new place was a step up. We had high hopes to be in Amarillo, Texas by dinner the next day, so staying right on the interstate was a big plus.
Another day down, and a couple more to go. We had repaired our cord, rigged our AC, freed our captive child, and arrived at our desired destination for the night. Things were working out quite well. Little did we know, the most adventurous part of our trip was yet to come!
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1 comment:
We (Mom, Dad, and me) have read and laughed our heads off about day 1 and 2. Can't wait to hear about the most adventurous part!!
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